The Great Baby Caper Read Online Free PDF Page A

long
moment, then broke into a grin. “Sure. Why not? I don’t think I’ve had such fun
since my Cambridge days.”
    Relief swept Courtney. “You mean
you’ll really help me?”
    “Of course.”
    She clapped her hands. “Oh, this
is wonderful. And there’s no time to waste. Come on, drink up so we can get
back to the hotel.”
    He flashed her a puzzled frown.
“But aren’t you forgetting something?”
    Disappointment seared Courtney. “Oh,
so you’re just like the others—”
    “Others?” he asked mildly.
    “The others I approached with
this, before you.”
    A look of feigned dismay darkened
his features. “You mean I’m not your first potential hired groom? Darling, I’m
crushed.”
    Though tempted to relent at his
charming melodramatics, she scolded, “Come on, quit teasing me.”
    “You think I’m teasing?”
    She forged on with the issue at
hand. “The others, well, they expected to be paid, or expected me to . . .”
    “To what?” he asked raptly.
    She blushed again. “You know
what!”
    “To compromise your virtue?” he
asked in horrified tones.
    Courtney burst out laughing again.
He was just too much!
    “Why, the scoundrels!” he
blustered with the same air of mock outrage. “That’s utterly despicable. I’d
call them all out for insulting my fiancée—albeit pretend fiancée—if I
only knew who they were.” He paused to pat her hand. “And I assure you, my
dear, that I have no such dishonorable intentions.”
    Courtney was still fighting
laughter. “I’m relieved to hear it.” She frowned. “But if that’s so, then what
exactly do you think I’ve forgotten?”
    He could hardly contain his own
amusement. “Why, introductions.”
    As his meaning sunk in, she
chortled. “Good grief, how silly of me. You’re right, of course. I can’t
exactly pass you off as my fiancé if I don’t even know your name, right?”
    “Righto.”
    Grinning, she extended her hand.
“Courtney Kelly.”
    He shook her hand. “Mark.”
    “Mark who?”
    He gave her a chiding look. “Now
you have to promise not to laugh.”
    “Okay.”
    “Mark Wiggleshaft.”
    She gasped, then burst out
laughing.
    He wagged a finger at her.
“Naughty girl. You promised.”
    “Sorry. But that can’t actually be
your—”
    “It is, indeed.”
    Courtney grimaced in horror. “Oh,
brother. You mean I have to go back to the hotel and introduce Mark Wiggleshaft as my fiancé?”
    He affected a look of chagrin.
“Having second thoughts already, darling? And we’ve only just gotten engaged.”
    “Well, it is pretty funny. And
probably just what M. Billingham Bootle deserves.”
    “Yes. And if you want to talk
about silly names, there’s one for you.”
    “You’re right. And I really
shouldn’t berate your heritage. I’m sure you must come from a perfectly
respectable family, the—er—Wiggleshafts, who might even frown on what I’m
asking you to do.”
    Merriment twinkled in his eyes.
“Truth to tell, I suspect my stuffy ancestors might well roll in their graves
at this torrid episode—especially Sir Hugo and the Dowager Biddlespoon.”
    “Ah. So you do come from an old
English family?”
    “We’ve traced our lineage back to
Elizabeth I. A couple of dukes, a bumper crop of marquesses and earls—even a
black sheep or two. Present company excluded, of course.”
    “Goodness, I’m impressed. And,
just for the sake of our current situation, what exactly do you do, Mr. Mark
Wiggleshaft?”
    Modestly he replied, “I’m a
management consultant and entrepreneur. I handle my family’s holdings in London, as well as a few companies I’ve managed to acquire or start up on my own.”
    Courtney was impressed. “My, my.
You do sound like quite a catch.”
    “The most eligible bachelor in the
French Quarter willing to marry you . . . by morning,” he quipped with a
devilish air.
    “And you’ve really managed to stay
single?” she continued casually.
    He sighed. “My family has a
suitable young lady